Micah Richards has lavished praise on one Manchester City player for the consistency he’s shown this season.
The Blues are just two victories away from winning another Premier League title and FA Cup.
On Sunday, a win against West Ham United would see the Citizens become the first side to win a fourth league title in a row before then going on to play a consecutive FA Cup final against Manchester United.
Now though, after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in midweek, one pundit and former City player has praised one particular player in Pep Guardiola’s side who has played a fairly small but crucial role in getting the team where they are now.
Richards hails Stefan Ortega’s consistency
Speaking in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football, Richards had this to say about Stefan Ortega after his impressive cameo in City’s win over Spurs.
He said: “He’s been brilliant, even with his feet. He commands the area, makes good saves. The best thing, though, is his calmness, I think.
“You know, when you come on as a sub, we’ve always talked about it takes a rhythm, especially for goalkeepers.
“I would say you need to run of games to make sure your reactions are right. But every time he plays, he’s bang on it.
“I think he’s fantastic. And that save from Son [Heung-min], the way he just waited.”
Ortega has proved his worth to City this season
This season has seen the German feature in 18 games for City, with eight in the Premier League and five in the FA Cup.
Across his eight league games, the 31-year-old has faced 25 shots on target and made 19 saves, three of which came during the recent win at Spurs after he replaced Ederson in the second half.
As Richards mentioned, one of those three saves saw Ortega deny Son from scoring when he got into a one-on-one situation with the Spurs attacker.
After the game, Guardiola said that the German’s “incredible” saves kept his side in the Premier League title race.
Then in the FA Cup, Ortega has saved 13 of the 15 shots on target he’s faced across the five games he’s featured in, further highlighting his impressive shot-stopping ability.
With all of that in mind, even though he isn’t City’s first-choice goalkeeper, Ortega has proved himself to be a vital player for the club and shown why he is fully deserving of this praise from Richards.